Saturday, May 14, 2011

Icealand = Incredible

The day after our heli adventure we decided a rest day would be beneficial. Some good old fashioned sight seeing was on the menu...

We went to Myvatn (1.5hr drive from Akureyri) to a natural hot spring which is located between two continental plates. And did I mention it is a cave as well!!! The water was so hot but we slowly got acclimatized and got our entire bodies in. One of the coolest things I have ever seen/done! On the way to the hot springs a guy working at a gas station was mentioning that there was some whales in a bay near by that have been feeding for the past 8 days. On our way home from the hot springs we decided to try our luck and go to the one bay he described. With in seconds of pulling up we saw some movement down by the water. We all hurried down the mountain side and were all instantly in awe. 2 hump back whales swimming back and forth feasting! We were fortunate enough to see one of the whales jump out of the water! AMAZING!

We have finished the snowboarding portion of our trip in Akureyri. We took advantage of the 2 resorts that were near by, Hlidarfjall and siglufjordur. They were not open but we used their roads to gain some elevation. Without the roads we would have to resort to more hiking than we were already doing. Built a couple features with some beautiful back drops. The one over our rental car has a waterfall and a fjord in the background but the weather came in as soon as we were ready to shoot!

Gave our place a nice clean and off we went back to Reykjavik.

Nikita was generous enough to let our crew stay at their downtown store front location, which has an amazing apartment and office above it. Not to mention a backyard with mini ramp and large area to host parties and bbqs. And that is exactly what they did. Geiri the marketing manager manned the grill and cooked up some of the finest hot dogs iceland has to offer. (*Hot dogs are Icelands most popular food* no joke!)

We hit the streets and went out with the crew. The group of people in and around Nikita have such a good vibe to them. Everyone is so nice and are constantly giving back to the sport.

Nightlife in Iceland is amazing. Everyone is so unique and is not afraid to be themselves. Saying that, you can go speak to a total stranger in the bar and they wont be stand offish. Totally welcoming and nice.

Iceland is amazing and I would totally recommend it. Only thing I would advise is that the weather changes very fast. It snowed in the city 2 days before we got there and while we were there it was in and around 15degrees. Some advice to pass on is that your best bet will be to go April. Best weather/daylight/snow ratio!

Stay tuned for an amazing Iceland section in Alterna’s next film!Snowboard Canada is doing a 10+page spread on the trip so keep your eyes on the shelves!Craig, Vera, Matt, Byron & John